Behind the lazy boy,
someone coughed.
The sound was very soft.
But just loud enough for the people around him to hear.
Sure enough,
more than a dozen boys nearby grinned viciously and moved in.
They didn't rush all at once.
They advanced slowly,
from every direction,
closing in bit by bit.
Like rising water.
Their footsteps were messy, overlapping—
yet no one bumped into anyone else.
This was clearly not their first time.
Wei stood still.
Behind him was the wooden wall.
Rough.
Cold.
Splinters pressed through his clothes into his shoulder, but he didn't move.
He didn't turn around either.
Because he knew—
turning back now would look like he was searching for a way out.
And in this place,
looking for a way out
was itself a crime.
He felt the eyes.
One.
Two.
Many.
Those gazes were not sharp.
They didn't stab.
They were wet.
Like cloth soaked in water, slowly pressing in—
sticking to his hands,
to his chest,
to his breathing.
Someone hadn't reacted yet.
Minnow was already standing in front of him.
He was thin.
His arms were narrow.
But he stood there anyway.
At the very front.
Wei didn't know when his fists had clenched.
By the time he noticed,
he and Minnow were already surrounded.
There was no path left.
—At that moment, the lazy boy's courage returned.
He stepped forward, right to the front.
One hand covered his eye.
The other pointed at Wei.
His voice was sharp and shrill, like a torn bellows.
"You pretty little face! You come in here talking trash about the undead heroes!"
"Without them protecting us, you'd already be chewed down to bones!"
Another boy shouted along,
"I've hated the look of you country trash from the start!
Why do you think you deserve to eat and sleep like us?!"
A third squeezed in from behind, a crooked smile on his face.
"You two stick together all day—
what, that kind of relationship, huh?"
The air felt like it had been lit.
Not an explosion.
More like—
a slow glow spreading.
The anger Wei had just forced down
began to crawl back up.
His muscles tightened.
Not to strike.
To prepare.
"Say it again," Wei said.
His voice was low.
Too low to sound like a threat.
More like he was measuring distance.
The lazy boy took an unconscious step back.
Then he lifted his chin and shoved one of his companions aside.
"What, you think I'm scared of you?"
He paused on purpose.
"Sorry—maybe I didn't say that clearly."
Then he grinned.
The grin flipped, like a blade turning over.
"What I meant was—
hasn't Iron Throat been looking for people
'willing to open the back door' lately?"
"The ones up top
like clean, obedient ones."
His gaze swept over Wei and Minnow.
"You two—
don't look bad."
"Behave yourselves,"
"and maybe you'll trade it for a few more meals."
Laughter broke out.
This time,
there was no attempt to hide it.
Like they were waiting for a signal.
Wei adjusted his breathing without thinking.
Then suddenly—
his breath skipped.
The world tightened.
He saw it.
On the boy across from him—
the fire above his head burned strong.
The fire in his chest was burning too.
But between the bridge of his nose and his jaw,
that thin line of fire—
it was weak.
Like an oil lamp about to go out.
A weakness.
Just as the boy leaned forward slightly—
The small figure stepped in front of Wei.
"You were told to do this."
Minnow's voice wasn't loud,
but it was unusually clear.
"Right?"
The laughter hesitated.
For a split second,
the lazy boy's face froze.
Then it darkened.
"And who the hell are you?"
Before the words fully landed—
Bang.
The fist hit his nose.
No extra motion.
No wasted force.
Like an arrow released from the string.
The sound of bone cracking
was so sharp it made chests tighten.
The world instantly changed flavor.
Sour.
Hot.
Bitter.
Salty.
They exploded from deep inside the nose.
Blood poured out.
Tears were forced free.
For a moment, there was only one sound—
the sharp intake of breath from all around.
"He dared hit me?!"
The lazy boy's voice snapped,
like a string pulled too hard.
"Kill him!
Beat him to death!"
Minnow froze for a heartbeat,
then spread his arms, blocking the space between them.
"Don't—don't hit him,
we can talk—"
He didn't finish.
Shadows slammed in.
Fists.
Knees.
Feet.
Like a pack of dogs lunging all at once.
Shouts exploded inside the shed.
Like sparks falling into dry wood.
Sunlight cut through the cracks in the walls,
then shattered again and again by moving bodies.
Some boys backed away in panic,
hands raised,
eager to distance themselves.
Some clapped and jeered,
laughing too sharply,
like they'd been waiting for this scene for a long time.
Minnow was knocked to the ground.
He curled up tightly,
both arms locked over his head.
His voice came out muffled from between his elbows.
"You can hit…
just don't hit the face…
hear me…
don't hit the face…"
Wei's fist came down.
In that instant,
he was back in the forest.
The wounded mountain goat.
Wet, cold leaves.
Hot, animal breath.
The beast didn't flee.
It lunged.
His father's voice echoed inside his bones—
Once you strike, you don't stop.
Stopping is death.
The fist fell again.
One punch.
Then another.
No rain.
Only the sound of bone breaking.
The lazy boy panicked.
Really panicked.
"Don't look at me like that!
Someone help—!"
Only then did his followers react.
Something smashed hard into Wei's lower back.
Then his leg.
Then another blow.
Wei staggered a step.
His chest tightened.
But his eyes—
never left their target.